So there may have been more than a couple of folks who were convinced that Trump was enjoying a bit of schadenfreude at Mitt Romney’s expense.

I absolutely believe that he’s been dangling the Secretary of State job in front of Governor Romney, in order to get a public groveling out of him. It would be sweet payback for the speech in March, where Romney excoriated the hay haired fraud on live TV.

Trump, today, however, is saying that not only did he not consider Romney simply for the purpose of humiliating him on a grand scale, but that Romney is still being considered for the position.

President-elect Trump says Mitt Romney is still in the running for secretary of state and he plans to announce his pick as the nation’s top diplomat next week.

After being named Time’s “Person of the Year” on the “Today” show Wednesday, Trump said Romney is still in the running despite several other people who have worked their way into contention in recent days.

“I’ve spoken to him a lot, we’ve come a long way together,” Trump said. “We had some tremendous difficulty, but we’ve come a long way together.”

“It’s not about revenge, it’s about what’s best for the country,” Trump said.

I actually think, as far as potential picks for the Secretary of State position go, Romney would be an excellent choice, especially when held up against the Clinton years.

I didn’t like him as a presidential candidate, but I’ve never doubted that he was a man of good character. That’s something that has been foreign to the State Department for quite some time, now.

As for Trump’s assurance that he’s not out to humiliate anyone, we can wait and see. I’m not convinced. My gut tells me that Trump’s thin-skin will lead him to court quite a few of his early detractors with promises of cabinet positions, only to dump them, later.

I’ll hold out some small hope, however, that he really is trying to consider who would be best, and puts some solid people in key roles.

The nation is going to need that buffer.